Aussie RT Day 10-13: Croc terrorizes Broome!

Staircase to the moon

The Gibb River Road ended in the town of Derby which wasn’t much to see so we continued west to Broome. We were both surprised we made it all the way through the Gibb without any mishaps or flat tires! The only explanation – we are bad ass four wheel driving chicas and Hercules is the man!

We arrived in Broome on the 24th just in time for the full moon as planned. The “staircase to the moon” is a natural phenomenon caused by a full moon rising over the exposed mudflats of Roebuck Bay at low tide.It occurs from March to October three nights of every month. We had only two days to try to snap the perfect shot.

We walked way out onto the mud flats and I set up my tripod and waited for the full moon to rise. I was able to get a few good shots the first night, but the second night was too cloudy.

After spending two weeks in the Outback, we were so excited to finally reach the west coast! We planned to run straight into the ocean but a sign stopped us dead in our tracks. WARNING: Recent Crocodile Sighting In This Area – NO SWIMMING. While we have braved swims with fresh water crocs, there is no way I would go near water with a saltie! Despite what my family may think, I am not that crazy!

Everyone was talking about the 18′ salt water crocodile that was terrorizing the coast, causing the beach to be closed the entire time we were in Broome! The report we heard on the radio reported the croc to be 12′ long and spoke about how local croc enforcement hoped the big guy would make his way back out to sea; otherwise, they were going to have to hunt him down and kill him!

We tried to lay out on the beach but it was incredibly hot and we couldn’t stand being in the sun too long without having water to jump into. We also heard that Broome is located directly under the hole in the ozone layer, we do not know if this is true but the threat of skin cancer, a croc attack, and a heat stroke kept us off the beaches until the sun went down.

Broome has the most brilliant sunsets I have ever seen. We drove Hercules out onto Cable Beach, pulled out our chairs and a few beers and watched the camels pass by as  sun sinking behind them into the ocean. This was the first time either of us had seen the sunset into an ocean down under. We hung out on the beach until late, listening to the music booming from the car next to us and had a little bbq right on the beach.

Sunset Cable Beach

The next best place to see the sunset in Broome is at the lighthouse. We had a little photo shoot climbing along the cliffs that lined the coast.

To see more photos of Broome CLICK HERE.